Good Things Can Come Out Of A Bad Situation

I believe that good things can come out of a bad situation; you just have to search for them.

I was young, and my life seemed perfect, in my eyes everything was perfect. I had a mom, a dad, and two sisters. I even had a puppy. I had heard about parents being divorced but I was to naive to think it could ever happen to my family. In a short time however, my world changed dramatically.

When I was about five years old, I was informed my parents were getting a divorce. Although it may not seem like it would affect me because I was so young, it changed my life. I can remember crying for days, I didn’t want two homes, or step parents. But at that time I didn’t know that some good could come out of it.

I learned at a young age to look at life with a different perspective and to make a good thing out of a bad situation. Although I may not give it credit for helping me through bad situations, I believe it helps me every day. I have an enormous family now, both my mom and my dad remarried. So now I have a step mom, a step dad and four step siblings. I have five nieces and nephews and more to come. If I ever have a problem I have a lot of people who I can talk to and a lot of people who love and care about me. I have been able to help my friends through divorces and have helped them to find the good in a bad situation. I can remember hearing the disappointment in my friends voice when she first told me that her parents were divorcing. I was always there for her and I really felt like she could relate to me because I had been through this exact situation. She would come to me when she was feeling down about it and I would help her through it. She has gotten through it just fine but still has days where she wishes things would go back to how they use to be. But who doesn’t?

I believe that if you look hard enough you can find the good in any situation. My story is a product of that philosophy and I think it has helped me through a lot more as well. I know my life wouldn’t be the same if my parents would have stayed together, but I love my family and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.